Lab-on-a-chip workshop activities for secondary school students.

The ability to engage and inspire younger generations in novel areas of science is important for bringing new researchers into a burgeoning field, such as lab-on-a-chip. We recently held a lab-on-a-chip workshop for secondary school students, for which we developed a number of hands-on activities that explained various aspects of microfluidic technology, including fabrication (milling and moulding of microfluidic devices, and wax printing of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices, so-called μPADs), flow regimes (gradient formation via diffusive mixing), and applications (tissue analysis and μPADs). Questionnaires completed by the students indicated that they found the workshop both interesting and informative, with all activities proving successful, while providing feedback that could be incorporated into later iterations of the event.

Simultaneous analysis of urinary metabolites for preliminary identification of primary hyperoxaluria.

Background: The primary hyperoxalurias are inherited disorders of glyoxylate metabolism, which cause over-production of oxalate leading to urolithiasis and subsequent renal failure. Other metabolites may be produced in excess in the different forms of PH: glycolate in PH1, glycerate in PH2 and 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutarate and 2,4-dihydroxyglutarate in PH3. The aim of this study was to set up and validate a method for the simultaneous analysis of these metabolites in urine and to evaluate its use for preliminary identification of primary hyperoxaluria prior to definitive diagnosis by genetic testing.

Finding privacy from a public death: a qualitative exploration of how a dedicated space for end-of-life care in an acute hospital impacts on dying patients and their families.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the experiences and perceptions of hospital staff caring for dying patients in a dedicated patient/family room (named Lotus Room).

Background: Dying in hospital is a common outcome for people across the world. However, noise and activity in acute environments present barriers to quality end-of-life care.

Seasonal climatic variations influence the efficacy of predatory mites used for control of western flower thrips in greenhouse ornamental crops.

The influence of seasonal greenhouse climate on the efficacy of predatory mites for thrips control was determined for potted chrysanthemum. Trials in controlled environment chambers, small-scale greenhouses and commercial greenhouses were conducted to determine which biological control agent-that is, Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot or Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans)-is more efficacious for control of western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), in different seasons. Under simulated summer conditions, no differences were observed in the predation and oviposition rates of both predatory mites in the laboratory trials.

Sustained Mps1 activity is required in mitosis to recruit O-Mad2 to the Mad1-C-Mad2 core complex.

Mps1 is an essential component of the spindle assembly checkpoint. In this study, we describe a novel Mps1 inhibitor, AZ3146, and use it to probe the role of Mps1's catalytic activity during mitosis. When Mps1 is inhibited before mitotic entry, subsequent recruitment of Mad1 and Mad2 to kinetochores is abolished.